It is well known that resonance and tone of guitars and the like are greatly affected by the types of materials employed in the construction of the instruments. This is true not only with regard to acoustic instruments but electric instruments as well.
A variety of laminate and coating types have been employed with respect to stringed instruments to obtain a desired sound as well as to render the instrument more attractive in appearance.
According to the teachings of the present invention, natural rock or stone is employed as a laminate on a stringed musical instrument to not only modify the aural and resonance characteristics thereof but also to add to its beauty. The stone employed may be extremely dense and hard, extremely soft (soapstone being an example), or anywhere in between in order to provide the desired effect. An extremely hard rock, for example, will give the musical instrument great sustain properties. A softer rock or stone, on the other hand, may be used to affect the sound in other ways, such as "softening" the tone and resonance. When the stone laminate is positioned at the pick guard of an electric stringed instrument, the aural characteristics are affected due to shielding of the instrument's electronic components.
Utilizing the teachings of the present invention, virtually any type of stone may be applied to a string instrument and utilized therewith. The stone laminate is adhesively secured to a stringed instrument and becomes an integral part thereof.
It is of course known to utilize rock and stone as decorative laminates. For example, my U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,815, issued Jan. 7, 1992, discloses a method of making a decorative transparent laminate comprised of a thin layer of stone bonded by an adhesive to a transparent, rigid substrate material. The stone is bonded to a transparent sheet of glass by adhesive and then worked to provide the desired decorative effect. There is, however, no suggestion in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,815 of the concept of utilizing a stone laminate as a medium for enhancing and modifying the visual and aural characteristics of a stringed instrument.